Why are we so weird about death?

I have a blue book that I carry with me to jot down insights. The stuff that comes out is often half baked, confusing, and contradictory, but the holistic nature of it sometimes captures something profound (a bit like a dream) that is sometimes lost when I rationally reduce it.

I’ll continue to think about it and articulate it properly, but I think the raw insight is also valuable so here you go:

P.s. In terms of understanding the tone I guess it’s me addressing myself.

Congratulations, you’re gonna die! It’s gonna be just marvelous — just like being born!

— Alan Watts

“What sort of pathetic life do you live if you’re afraid of the one thing that’s absolutely certain?

Everything else is transient — your body will dissolve back into the Earth along with your memories and everything you’ve ever ‘accomplished’. But yet you place so much importance on those things and refuse to look at the inevitability of your death — your one true possession?

Instead of appreciating life while you have it, you’re living in the future. You're so preoccupied with not dying that it defeats the purpose of living in the first place.

Why go on living if the cost of living is the present?

You might as well be already dead lol.”

I write daily to keep myself sane and remind myself how lucky I am to be alive. It’s easy to drift through life unconscious and forget to appreciate what you have, and to develop yourself as a person.

So if you like, drop your email in the box below and walk with me. I’ll send you a weekly newsletter with the best stuff I’ve come across to keep us both on track.

Jackson xo

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P.S. one last thing: All my life I’ve struggled to overcome mental and physical barriers to optimizing my learning and growth in whatever I was doing. Over a period of at least 10 years I pieced together a philosophy that governs optimized practice and long term growth. So if you’re interested in ideas like optimized learning, mastery, discipline and creativity – you should DEFINITELY read this.